Friday, March 7, 2014

Patience...

With spring upon us and after having endured one of the harshest winters on record, it is no surprise that golfers are chomping at the bit to get out and play! This time of year, more than ever, is time to exercise patience. According to folks that dig holes for a living, the ground in Champaign froze to a depth of nearly 30" this winter. Currently we have only seen a couple of days of "ground thawing" weather, which means we have a long way to go before the frost is out of the ground!

With frost remaining in the soil profile, water from the thawing ground on top has nowhere to go and so the top layer of soil becomes completely saturated and unstable. This puts fine turf areas (especially putting greens) at risk of becoming severely damaged if traffic is not held off. Not only does this mean golfers have to wait, but it also means maintenance personnel have a difficult time getting around the course to clean up debris from the winter. Our staff will do their best to work in the mornings (when the ground is still frozen) and then stay away from wet areas in the afternoon.

As seen in the following pictures, there is still much work to do before we can consider the course "playable" yet it would be counter productive to damage the turf while cleaning up! Once the course is dry enough we will put the flagsticks back in the greens and open the course for play.

Please exercise patience as you await the beginning of the golfing season!